For Want of a Knight
by clcman
Summary: In Orre's darkest time, a stranger saved a random girl, and a powerful partnership was formed. But what would have happened... if he hadn't? AU of Pokémon Colosseum.
1. The Girl in the Bag

Chapter 1: The Girl in the Bag

"Fwaah! We sure pigged out, eh? I love chowing down after a job! It adds to the flavor, I swear!"

Distorted voices floated through the rough burlap surrounding her. Male. Two of them.

"Heheheh, yeah. And we bagged ourselves a great big catch, too. Boss'll be sure to fix us up good with big rewards, too."

She tried to clear her head. So many questions floated in her head. What had hit her? What on earth had happened? Why was it so hard to remember? How had she ended up in a sack with tape over her mouth and her hands and feet tied together behind her back?

_That seems like a good one to start with _she thought.

There was the slamming of two doors and the turn of a key.

"Heheheh, it doesn't get any better than this!"

Best to start from the beginning. _My name is Rui Noel_. _I live in the Kanto region with my cousin, Misty_.

"Come on, come on you engine. Start!"

_I came to Orre to see my grandparents, Eagun and Beluh. They live in Agate Village_ _and are probably worried sick about me._

There was the roar of an engine and the metal floor she was lying on (a truck bed, if she had to guess) began to vibrate.

_I got lost. I should have gone north but I went east instead. _Curse that faulty GPS!

It sounded like they were moving, though it was kind of hard to tell. She couldn't see, couldn't speak, couldn't move. This was going to get unbearable pretty soon.

"Hey, Trudley! I just got a message from the boss!"

_I ended up in Pyrite Town. I saw these two creeps. One had a weird hat, the other had yellow hair with red streaks._

"What's it say, man?"

_They had a pokémon... a fighting-type, I think. There was something... odd about it._

"He wants to know, and I quote-"where on the shiny disco ball that is this movin', groovin' party house of a planet"-end quote, are we."

_That pokémon wasn't just fighting regular trainer battles against other pokémon... it was attacking people!_

"Blast it! He noticed we're late!"

_I could also see something else about it. It's aura was… black._

The bumping increased as the truck picked up speed.

"Of course he noticed we're late! We were supposed to go back to Pyrite, not halfway across Orre!"

_I've seen a lot of pokémon auras of course, ever since I was little, and the ability's been in my family for generations, but… While each aura is slightly different, I've never seen black before. It felt as though its heart was cold and empty. It scared me_.

"Well, it's not my fault that girl's GPS couldn't find sand in a desert! Why did we ever use that thing?"

_I went to that policeman... Officer… Johnson, I think?_

"Fine. From now on, we won't use free electronics people we're kidnapping just happen to be carrying around. Happy?"

_He didn't believe me, but his shouting alerted those two and they ran off_.

A strange musical and very rhythmic beat began, even cutting through the sound of the air rushing around the moving truck.

"Drat! He's calling! What do I say, what do I say!"

_I felt like I needed to get out of Pyrite right then. I got back on that rental scooter and just drove._

"Uh, hi, boss. How's it going?"

_I guess they followed me. It seems like whatever is wrong with that pokémon, no one is supposed to know about it._

"'How's it going?' You idiot! You'll get us fired! Give me that!"

There was what sounded like a brief struggle and what may or may not have been a slap fight.

"Uh, yeah, boss, we got that girl. Just like you told us. She, uh... made it further than we anticipated. But we got her now and we're heading back to the hideout. Uh, yeah. We're actually out south of Eclo Canyon, as it turns out. Like I said, she is really fast..."

_That little rental scooter couldn't possibly outrun their truck. They bumped me off the road not long after the chase started_.

"Uh, no, boss! We didn't get lost! What possibly gave you that idea?"

_I think my scooter went off a cliff after I fell off. I guess I could say I'm lucky that I didn't follow it_… _but I sure don't feel that way, tied up in a sack and all._

"Uh, yeah. We'll meet you there. Bye!"

_I guess they grabbed me while I was out, and really don't want me escaping._

"Okay, it sounds like we aren't fired. Yet."

There was another bump. Harder now.

_I need to find a way out of here. I don't think these guys are planning to invite me to tea_.

"No thanks to you, genius. So we need to get this girl to Oasisville, huh?"

_What did they do to that pokémon! And why is it so secret that no one can know about it? What is going on here?_

"Yeah. Miror said he'll have some guys meet us there."

_Let's face it. They're going to kill me, aren't they? They're going to kill me and there's nothing I can do about it._

"Well, Folly, buddy, let's go! Step on it!"

_No! Rui, get a hold of yourself! _She was practically shouting inside her head, using an authoritative tone like what her mom used to use. _Don't give up! You aren't dead yet, and until you are, you can escape!_

"I am stepping on it, you idiot!"

_You have to escape, and tell someone about this! Help stop whatever's going on here! And you better do it while it's just these two idiots and not their boss as well!_

"Well, step on it harder! Go!"

_Okay, okay. Escaping. Just like they do all the time in the movies. I really should have watched more of those movies. Let's see here. First, I guess I'll need to get out of this sack… _

"Well, I guess it's not like it's our truck or anything. Stepping even harder!"

_Aw, let's face it, I have no idea how to untie myself and get out of this sack. Great._

The truck accelerated and began hitting rocks again and again, creating a bumpy environment not optimal for thinking in dangerous situations.

_Well, one step at a time. Being able to feel my arms would be nice._

But they were tied together at the wrists with pretty thick rope. She would never be able to break that.

_Unless, if the knots aren't perfectly tight… _

She began twisting and pulling her arms, trying to find any weakness in the knots, which by the sound of it, her captors would be dumb enough to leave. And, as it turned out, there was a little slack that felt like it could be manipulated. Yay.

_Well, I guess this is as good of a plan as I'm going to get. I hope it works before we get wherever it is we're going and I learn what these guys have planned for me…_

As it turned out, it wouldn't be that long of a wait.

* * *

><p><em>Hey there, just the beginning of my first pokémon fanfic, <em>For Want of a Knight_. This is based on the game Pokémon Colosseum, and asks that eternal question: What would have happened to Rui if Wes hadn't come along at the perfect moment to rescue her?_

_I'll probably update this fairly frequently, but the first few chapters will probably be pretty short._

_I hope you enjoy. Please let me know if there are any typos or other things that need fixing._


	2. The Boy on the Bike

Chapter 2: The Boy on the Bike

Several minutes earlier, a person, too old to be called a kid and yet not old enough to really call a man walked out of the bronze train that was the Outskirt Stand. He had bright goggles up over his white-blond hair and a long blue coat that rippled in the desert wind.

"Yo!" shouted a guy behind him. "Wait! Wait up!"

_What could this be?_ thought Wes in a mental tone that was pretty darn sure he didn't really want to know.

He turned around to face the man running down the ramp to meet him. The first thing he noticed about the guy was that his hair was bright pink. Wes briefly wondered if there had been a terrible accident at the hairdresser's.

"Hey, my name's Willie" said the pink-haired guy, extending a hand. Wes declined to shake, and Willie put it back by his side.

"After I got a good look at you" continued the stranger, "Well, I got this urge to battle you. It's like I'm compelled to."

Ah, a 'compulsive battling trainer'. He'd heard of those, and such habits made one incredibly vulnerable to having their entire team snagged, but now really wasn't the time. Unless this guy had some really nice pokémon on him, well, he did have the Snag Machine after all…

_No, Wes, you're a good guy now. No more snagging. Unless they're evil, and it looks like they abuse their pokémon. Or they have really good EVs… Quiet, you! _he mentally shouted at the part of his brain that wanted to snag every pokémon in Orre.

"Any way I look at it, it's obvious that you're no ordinary Joe" continued Willie, oblivious to Wes's internal moral struggle.

_That's assuming former Team Snagem agents who just signed their resignation with a whole mess of high explosives don't count as 'ordinary Joes'…_

"So, what do you say? Let's you and me have a quick battle!"

_What do I say? Should I grant this one request of a stranger I'll probably never see again? Make his day? Maybe give Espeon and Umbreon at little more experience? Earn a little cash? Blow off some steam and relax a little bit?_

"No" he replied and walked off towards his hovercycle, a massive work of cast metal which somehow was able to hover despite an engine block bigger than a small car.

"Aw, come on, man!" shouted Willie, following him. "It'll be epic! No one who's any good at battles ever comes here!"

_I wonder why…_

"I said 'no'" said Wes with a tone of contempt. "I need to head out to…"

Arceas! Where was he going? That really should have been part of the plan. He really, _really_ should have put more thought into the "after I blow up the HQ" part of the plan. _Pick a town, any town…_

"…Pyrite Town. Pressing engagement. Can't wait another minute. Bye."

Willie blinked in utter shock that a trainer had refused a battle. From what he'd heard, this never happened in those other regions his mom had told him to go to instead.

Wes reached his bike and activated his two pokéballs, revealing a dark black Umbreon and a soft pink Espeon. They both quickly jumped into the bike's sidecar.

"Aw, come on! You have awesome evolved pokémon and you still won't battle me?" whined Willie.

Wes gunned the engine of his monstrous hunk of junk/amazing feat of technical engineering (depending on who you asked).

"You got it."

_Finally_…

"Well, uh, I didn't catch your name!" shouted Wille over the roar of the engine.

"There's a reason for that" replied Wes and he took off across the sand, leaving Willie standing in the sand with his mouth wide open, which is usually not a good idea in a desert.

_Well, that was a waste of time. I might as well head to Pyrite Town. I'll blend in there. Gonzap's going to be looking for me, and he isn't going to stop until he gets me and this Snag Machine back._

Really should have put more into that part of the plan.

* * *

><p><em>So, here we have it, my diverging point from canon. Who knew skipping one pokémon battle could change so much? <em>

_This story is mainly focused on Rui, but don't worry. We'll see Wes again. And there will be much shipping!_

_(Just kidding. I don't expect much shipping, but there will be Wes and he will be awesome.)_

_I've also edited Chapter 1 slightly and added author's notes, which I'll probably have at the end of most of the chapters._

_School isn't back yet from Christmas break, so hopefully I'll have Chapter 3 done by tomorrow._

_Enjoy!_


	3. Tripping Up

Chapter 3: Tripping Up

The knot was starting to come undone. She could feel it. If she just had a little more time…

The truck stopped. "We're here. Get the girl."

_Damn! Just a little longer…_

"What, and carry her all by myself? You're helping, you lazy bum."

It was slipping, it was! Just a little more wriggling…

"Fine. Miror said his guys will meet us by the West Entrance of the city, which is…"

"To the west."

"Genius."

There was water rushing in the background. Rui had to admit that geography was one of her worse subjects, especially of this region she'd never been to, but wasn't Orre almost entirely desert? Well, Agate Village seemed pretty green, but there was no way they could have gotten that far. It had only been an hour or so. Rui decided to put this mystery in the "after I escape" pile and focused back on that rather pesky knot.

"So, where are we anyway?"

"That sign says we're at… Phenac City South Entrance."

"So, how far is the West Entrance?"

"Not that far, I don't think. We can drive the truck there."

"Nah, let's not waste any more time. Phenac City's not that big. We'll just go there on foot."

"And do what, carry her?"

"Sure, why not? It'll be good exercise."

Rui thought about this for a second. Actually, if they were going on foot through a populated area, that might not be so bad for her…

Suddenly, something grabbed each side of the sack she was regretfully trapped in and lifted.

"Man, she's heavier than I thought."

_Well, excuse me, Mr. Kidnapper. I didn't mean to burden you in your criminal endeavors._

This seemed like an excellent time to finish untying her hands. Rui began struggling furiously as she tried to pull apart the last bit of the knot.

The end of the sack containing her head dropped several inches, and she would have shrieked if there had not been tape over her mouth. Which was something else that needed to be remedied shortly.

"Hey, what are you doing? Get a grip, man!"

On second thought, maybe being carried wasn't so great after all…

"Yeah, you say that, but this... It won't stop squirming. Makes it tough to hold on."

One last pull and… success! She was free! Well, free for a girl whose feet were tied together, had tape over her mouth and was trapped in a burlap sack, but it was a dramatic improvement over a minute earlier. Speaking of which… she ripped the tape off her mouth and finally took in a deep breath.

"Okay, okay. Settle down in there. Just be quiet for a little while longer."

_Yeah, I'll be quiet all right…_

"Help! Someone let me out! Kidnappers!"

"Tch! That tape didn't keep her yap shut!"

_You bet it didn't, scumbag._

"Hey! Quit your shouting!" yelled the guy holding her feet.

Several people in the area turned their heads towards them. After all, it's not every day that you see two guys yelling at a burlap sack.

_Hopefully someone will hear me and figure out what's going on._

In the meantime, Rui started working on untying her feet and was about to scream again when someone else beat her to it.

"Eeeeek! Somebody! Robbers! They're robbers!"

_Close enough._

"Y-you be quiet! We're no robbers! We're kidnappers! Get it? Kidnappers!

"_We also have a combined IQ of negative 6" _snickered Rui. Hey, she could have a little laugh at their expense, right?

"Wha… you dingbat! Don't shoot off your mouth!"

Rui pulled the rope around her feet loose (knots were so much easier to untie when you had both hands).

_Too late, genius. Cat's out of the bag, and hopefully me with it._

"Hey! You two! Stop!" This voice was different, and hopefully friendly.

The creep holding up Rui's head dropped his end on the very, very hard ground.

_Ow!_

"Get the bag back in the truck. I'll hold them off!"

_Uh-oh_. Going back in the truck was not part of the plan. Rui shook off the dizziness that she really hoped was not a sign of a concussion and started to get out of the sack. The sack… which was tied shut. From the outside.

_Uh-oh._

"How am I supposed to do that? She's really heavy!"

_Hey!_'

"Just do it! Go, Wismur!"

_Come loose, come loose, please come loose!_

"What's going on here?" Another new voice.

"I got her!"

Someone (one of the kidnappers, she guessed) grabbed her midsection through the cloth and began trying to drag her back. Rui struck at the guy as hard as she could with her elbow. There was a grunt, and he pulled back, at least for a second.

"Help me! Kidnappers!" screamed Rui again, trying to make her voice sound as desperate as possible, which wasn't very hard, seeing as she was pretty desperate. She got back to the mouth of the sack, trying her hardest to pull open a hole big enough to fit through.

_Come on, come on! Getting untied doesn't do much if I can't get out of this bag!_

This wasn't good! The mouth of the sack wasn't getting any looser!

"Kidnappers! Not on my watch! Go Castform! Get 'em!"

Rui's attacker was back, and he was trying to pin her to the ground. Well, that wasn't going to happen. Rui punched him through the cloth and then leapt (or as close to leapt as she could get while still inside a sack) at him. She landed on what certainly felt like a person and tried to shift her weight and pin him down.

"Ah! Get off of me! We're supposed to be kidnapping you, not the other way round!"

Rui decided to skip the sarcastic mental comment and punched him again, though she couldn't tell it was doing all that much.

"Wismur, use Uproar!"

There was a sudden terrible racket. Rui cringed. Her head was still spinning from slamming into the ground. She recovered, but not before she gave the guy she was fighting with a chance to shove her off of him. Rui rolled backwards a few feet.

"That's it! You asked for it! Go, Makuhita! Get the sack!"

While most of the auras around her were faint blurs, like background noise, another one suddenly popped into existence. To her horror, Rui realized that this new aura was the black one she had seen in Pyrite Town.

_It's that pokémon! The one that attacked people! It's after me and I can't defend myself!_

"Someone! Help me! Please!"

But behind her, any potential rescuers were tied up (ha, ha) in different battle.

"Castform, use Weather Ball!"

"Blast! No! Wismur, return!"

"Give up, creep!"

"You won't beat me that easily! Go Wismur!"

The black aura lunged and slammed into her side with a powerful force. Rui didn't even have time to react before something powerful smashed into her shoulder. A second blow to her chest drove the air from her lungs.

"Another one? Fine! Castform, Weather Ball, again!"

The mysterious pokémon grabbed the cloth of the sack in front of her torso, lifted it up and slammed the bag (with Rui in it) into the pavement. Then it did it again. Twice her head struck the extremely hard pavement, for the third total time in less than a minute.

_Ow…_

She went limp. She could barely breathe. She didn't have any strength left to resist, or the focus to even remember why she had to.

"Okay, Makuhita! Good shadow pokémon! Now get it in the truck!"

The tiny bit of Rui's brain that was still functioning noticed that she was being hoisted into the air. She could still hear voices in the background.

"What! No! That's impossible! You took out my double Wismur combo! What kind of crazy-skilled trainer are you!"

_Wait… what's going… going…?_

"We got her, Folly! Let's go!"

"You win this round, Castform Guy! But don't get cocky! I won't lose next time!"

Through the haze of her mind, Rui struggled to put together a thought, any thought.

_No… _

"Hey! Come back here you thugs! Castform! Stop that truck! Weather Ball!"

_I have to… escape…_

There was a thud. She was back in the truck bed. The slamming of doors.

"Go! Drive, man, drive!"

There was a crashing against the side of the truck as it pulled off, its tires squealing.

_I have to… what?_

Everything was quiet. Everything was calm.

_What…?  
><em>

Finally, everything faded into darkness.


	4. A Call

Chapter 4: A Call

_Doo dee do do, do dee do! Doo dee do do, do dee do!_

_Beep._

"Hello hip and happening people of the world! This is Miror B. speaking."

"Hi, uh, boss."

"Folly! I sure hope this is worth interrupting my dance practice time!"

"Aw, no! We interrupted his dance time! He's going to fire us for sure!"

"I can hear you, you know. And I'm going to assume everything went ab-so-lutely super-duper perfecto and you dropped that girl off to Einie's people no problem, right? Just like I said it would happen?"

"Uh… actually boss, we ran into a little bit of a problem…"

"What did you two mess up this time?"

"It wasn't us, boss! There was this guy, like a jogger or someone, who just came out of nowhere, and he had this like crazy over-leveled Castform and it just wiped out my entire team in one shot each and…"

"That's enough out of you, Folly boy. Let me guess. You lost the girl."

"Uh, no boss. Actually, well, sort of."

"Sort of? What are you mumbling about? You're a part of my posse, right?"

"Uh, yeah…"

"Well, you won't be unless you tell me what happened!"

"Well, the girl escaped…"

"I knew it. Such a disappointing way to bring the curtain down on your career."

"But we got her back! Really fast! She never even made it out of our sack!"

"So you _do_ have the girl then, correct?"

"Yes, boss. We've got her."

"But you have not delivered her to your contact at the West Entrance?"

"No, and I don't think that's going to work…"

"And why in the name of disco won't it!"

"Well, you see, there was this angry mob of people in Phenac, and they chased us out of town, and so we thought we'd head straight to Pyrite and hand her over personally."

"I see. And so you're coming this way?"

"Uh, actually, no…"

"Folly… "

"You see, when we were escaping from Super-Castform-Man, his pokémon kind of shot up our truck, and well, we got halfway to Pyrite and… the engine died. We're stuck."

"You're stuck."

"In the middle of the desert."

"You called me personally and interrupted valuable dancing time to tell me that you're stuck in the desert."

"Yes, boss."

"But you have the girl, correct?"

"That's right boss."

"Fine. Hang tight, my posse people. I'll send Reath and Ferma to pick you up."

"Uh, boss, actually, if it could be someone other…"

"You dare question my orders? I am shocked! Next you'll be saying I dress funny."

"No, boss, you don't dress funny at all…"

"You're darn right there! I happen to be the most hip and fashionable man in Orre! Everyone else simply refuses to stay in the latest trends. If only more people were like that Mirakle B. fellow. He has good taste. Quite a shame."

"Yeah boss. It's a real shame. Now, about us…"

"I'm sending Reath and Ferma, Folly boy. But I realize you two can be a little dense sometimes, so I'll give you a piece of advice."

"Yes, boss?"

"If you lose that girl again, you are out of my posse faster than rap's going to be when I make my stage debut! Understand?"

"Yes boss. She isn't going anywhere. Until we are. Then she is going somewhere. With us, I mean."

"Good. That's what I like to hear, Folly boy. Now, if you don't mind, it's time for me to get back to what's really important in life. Start the music again, my hip-hop dancing pokémon! Miror B. is OOOUUUUTTT!"

_click_

* * *

><p><em>Ah, Miror B., you loveable, delusional, tone-deaf rogue...<br>_


	5. Déjà Vu

Chapter 5: Déjà Vu

_Ow..._

It was bright. Very bright. Rui couldn't see anything.

_Ah... What..._

She was suddenly overcome with nausea and nearly threw up.

_Okay... Not good...  
><em>

Carefully, Rui swallowed and tried to say something. She couldn't. There was tape on her mouth.

She was lying on her side. She still couldn't see anything. It was all too bright. What she could feel was not very encouraging. There was rough cloth all around her, restricting her movement. She could feel her hair, having come out of its pigtails, draped over her face. And there was something warm and sticky on the back of her neck. Her arms were pinned behind her back and her chest ached. Her breathing was shallow.

There was also a large weight on top of her.

Yeah. Not good.

"What's taking them so long?" said a voice. Rui cringed. It couldn't actually be that loud, could it?

"I almost hope they got lost too. Then Miror won't be mad at just us."

Her head! Why was it throbbing so much!

"Yeah, but did he have to send Reath and Ferma? Those two always manage to make us look bad at our jobs!"

Black. It was all black. At least for a second. Or was it an hour?

"Hey! I think I see something on the horizon!"

Too quickly, however, the darkness faded and was replaced by the impossibly bright light.

"You think that's them?"

"I hope so, man. I don't want to just sit around here much longer."

Thirsty! She was so thirsty! Why was is so impossibly hot? Her stomach growled. When had she last eaten? That cafe in Pyrite. How long ago was that? Hours? Days?

The weight on top of her shifted and suddenly lifted.

"Yep! That's them!"

A new motorized rumbling. Rui winced. It was so loud!

A door slammed.

"So, I heard you two knuckleheads needed a ride?"

A new voice. Female. Cold, like ice, or steel, or something really cold. She wasn't in a good situation for making metaphors, okay?

At least her head was a little clearer. Clear enough to figure out where she was.

_When I get out of here, I am going to find this very sack and I am going to **burn** it. And then I'm going to find these two and I'm going to set _them_ on fire_._ And then I'm going to put them out, so I can set them on fire **again**..._

Okay. The anger was helping her focus, but it wasn't helping untie her. Rui pulled on the rope tying her hands together and gasped in pain. Her chest wasn't actually supposed to hurt that much, was it?

"We didn't 'need' a ride. We merely thought it would be gentlemanly to allow you two ladies to share the glory of our prize."

There was a pause, followed by definitely female laughter.

"'Gentlemanly'? Is that even a word?"

"Not one anyone would use to describe these two!"

Another female voice. That made two, plus the two male ones.

_Outnumbered four to one, no pokémon, tied up in a sack and I can barely breathe... This is just my day._ _At least my eyes have kind of adjusted, even if there isn't much to look at._

"Well, is this the girl you guys had to exert so much effort to catch?"

Someone opened the top of the sack and more light poured in, blinding her again.

_Never mind._

Something ran through her hair. Rui squinted and tried to move her head as far from the hand as her neck would allow.

"I suppose she's kind of cute, in a beat-up sort of way. But I'm not sure she's your type, Folly."

_I most definitely am not his type!_

"Ha, ha, funny, Ferma. We actually got orders to snatch this girl."

Someone had the decency to replace the burlap over her eyes. So kind of them.

"Orders? Is she someone special? Mayor's daughter, or something?"

"I don't think so. All I know is that she could recognize Trudley's shadow pokémon."

_Shadow pokémon? Is that what they're called? What did they do to that thing?_

"'Recognize?'" The other female voice.

"She said she could see some sort of 'Black Oran' around it."

_It's black "aura", genius._

"'Black Oran'? An Oran is a type of berry, and it's blue. You're saying she saw colored fruit that ID'd a shadow pokémon?"

"I'm saying that she could tell and the boss told us to bring her in. You got a problem with that?"

_I do. I have a big problem with that, but you see, I have tape over my mouth which is preventing me from expressing my opinion on this matter. Terribly sorry about that._

"Fine. Whatever. Let's get you all back to Pyrite. Do you need someone to tow your truck?"

"Nah. It's not ours."

There was a long pause, during which Rui could image at least one of the male goons grinning through the sheer genius of his brilliant foresight.

_"Slap!"_

That probably dealt with the grinning.

"Whatever. Get your bag in our trunk. You two can sit in the back as long as You. Are. Quiet. Understand?"

"Can we pick the radio station?"

"Just get the girl in the trunk, okay?"

"Uh, some assistance would be appreciated..."

"Oh, and make the ladies work? Not very 'gentlemanly', is it?"

"Whatever. Come on, Trudley. Let's get her."

Someone grabbed each side of the sack and hoisted. Unfortunately, this sudden change in orientation sent Rui's nausea flaring up again. She retched and convulsed, nearly causing her carriers to drop her. Again.

"Okay, if she breaks out again, I'm blaming you two!"

There was a distant thud as she landed inside the trunk of the new arrival's vehicle. Her head was throbbing even worse than before, so much that she could hardly think. Her chest was aching again.

_Ow..._

More slamming of doors. The start of an engine.

Then silence.

Darkness.

* * *

><p><em>Yay, another chapter featuring Rui tied up in a sack. There probably won't be many more of those, so you might as well savor this one.<em>

_Here's a fun, random, behind-the-scenes fact: Rui was initially going to win the fight in Chapter 3. In fact, if I hadn't realized Folly and Trudly had a homicidal shadow pokémon at their disposal, they'd probably be out of Miror B.'s posse by this point. And no one wants to be out of Miror B.'s posse._

_More chapters on the way soon, I hope. Enjoy!_


	6. A Winner Is You!

Chapter 6: A Winner Is You!

Wes emerged from the Pyrite Colosseum building, a small smile on his face.

_Well that was... amusing._

He was almost kind of glad he'd taken the time for that little diversion. Not that the trainers in this town had been especially difficult, but winning a colosseum battle made him feel good.

Better. It made him feel relaxed. That hadn't happened in a long time.

The cheering of the crowd, the exhilaration of a tough battle, the thrill of victory... All compounded by the enlightening knowledge that this wouldn't end with a Snag, that the opposing trainer would not hate him for the rest of his life. It felt like...

_ Freedom._

And he'd only come especially close to snagging one pokémon!

_Maybe I should go overseas. To one of those other regions with large Pokémon Leagues. Then I could keep doing this, with no cops and no Gonzap on my tail. That would be nice. Plus, I hear that they have wild, trainerless pokémon all over the place. I could catch them all day with no consequences!  
><em>

Wes briefly snapped out of his long-overdue happy thoughts to avoid walking into a chasm, and figured that now might not be the best time for this. He stepped onto the long bridge that looked like it could fall apart in an instant.

_Yeah, I should probably leave tomorrow. I don't think Pyrite Town has my personal... architectural style._

There was someone standing at the end of the bridge. He was leaning on one of the posts (which could not be good for the structural stability of the thing), wearing some sort of weird blue outfit. The guy had a hat and mask that covered his face, purple gloves, and orange scarf (which just looked tacky, Wes noted) and what looked suspiciously like blue body armor.

"Hi, there! You must be the superb trainer who has emerged triumphant in our latest battle challenge."

_This guy's talking to me?_

"Robby, right?" repeated the strange guy, using the name Wes had decided to enter under. One shouldn't go around giving out one's real name. Old habits.

"Yes. I'm Robby. So what?"

He really needed to get past this guy and off this creaking metal deathtrap.

"Miror B., the town's true mover and shaker, wishes you to have a gorgeous gift."

_Miror B? What kind of absurd name is Miror B, and why does he want to give me a gift?_

Nothing good could come of this, he was certain. Wes tried to sidestep around the guy, but he moved as well to block Wes's path off the bridge. The no-doubt-incredibly-unsafe bridge.

"I'm sorry, I don't know any Miror Bs" said Wes.

"Miror B. wishes for the best trainers in Pyrite to continue to grow stronger. Therefore, whenever someone wins a match at the Colosseum, he gives them a pokémon."

"A pokémon? What sort of pokémon?"

Now Wes was intrigued. He probably could use a little more diversity in his team, and if he didn't even have to Snag it, well...

"It is a Shadow Pokémon."

Shadow pokémon? The name sounded like an advertising gimmick designed to make it sound more intimidating. Weird.

"Do you mean _dark_ type pokémon? Because I have one of those."

"No, no, no. A Shadow Pokémon is far more powerful than any regular one."

Huh?

"What do you mean by that?"

"Shadow Pokémon are some of the most powerful and rare pokémon on the planet. Are you interested?"

_Hmm, more powerful, huh? I might as well see what this guy is talking about. Especially if it will get me off this bridge._

Wes nodded. The weird guy in blue smiled.

"Good. Now, follow me."

* * *

><p><em>Yay! Wes is back! And now, the questions you should be asking yourself: Who could be this mysterious guy in blue? What on earth is he selling? How does this all tie together!<em>

_Unless you've played Colosseum, in which case it shouldn't be too hard._

_More chapters will be coming soon, I hope. Part of the reason they're so short is so I can get them up faster.  
><em>


	7. Dancing Fiend

**APPARENTLY NECESSARY DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Pokémon Colosseum. If I did, I wouldn't need to write an AU fanfic of it, now would I?

Chapter 7: A Dancing Fiend

Pain.

Pain rushed through her head. And screaming. Someone-or something- was screaming. Rhythmically.

Rui woke up. Normally, this would be a good thing. Normally, she didn't feel like throwing up and would be able to see where she was.

It was bright. Really bright. She was sitting on the ground, with her back against what certainly felt like a rough stone wall of some sort. Her hands and feet were still bound (of course), and she still had tape on her mouth, but it felt like the sack was gone.

_Thank goodness._

The screaming, however, was not.

It sounded like someone was torturing a herd of Donphan or something, while they were sitting on a whole bunch of Chatot. It was just really loud, okay?

A voice somehow made it through the noise.

"Hey! Boss! I think she's awake!"

"Huh? Already? Alright party people, STOP THE MUSIC!"

There was a loud click and what had sounded like screaming finally stopped.

Rui closed her eyes for a bit and tried to look towards the ground, hoping her eyes would adjust and she could see. A large shadow appeared. It looked something like those giant mushroom pokémon... Breloom, was it?

"So this is the girl who can see Shadow Pokémon. I can't really understand how you two had so much trouble with her."

"Well, boss, you see..."

"Not important right now."

The strange mushroom-shaped person turned towards Rui.

"Why hello there, young lady. A bit of a mess, aren't you? I suppose I should introduce myself."

_Oh, yes, please do. I don't know enough homicidal lunatics yet._

"The name is Miror B.!"

_"Miror B."? Seriously?_ thought Rui._ What kind of a name is Miror B.? Does it stand for something, like "M.I.R.O.R. B."? "Massive Irritating Rambling Order Robot, Bravo?" Okay, so I'm not good at acronyms, it's still a weird name.  
><em>

"And, of course, you've met Folly and Trudly."

She could see a little better now. There were two guys flanking Miror B, the same two guys who had kidnapped her.

And, oddly enough, they had _shut up_ for the first time since she'd met them (and been conscious).

"I must apologize for the rough way they treated you" said Miror B. "But we really weren't at liberty to keep you at liberty, little lady."

For some reason, Rui got the feeling he had spent several minutes coming up with that.

"But, you see, you could totally interfere with our Shadow Pokémon plan, and that just wouldn't do."

This was the part where Rui would ask the question: "What on earth are 'Shadow Pokémon', and what is your plan, you lunatic!" That is, if there wasn't tape over her mouth. That was getting very irritating.

"As much as I am for... direct solutions to things, Einie back at the lab has asked that we send you over to him. He's very interested in your... abilities."

_My... abilities? I guess I can see auras, but that's not really all that special, is it? I mean there are psychics like Sabrina who can see the future and move things with their minds and stuff, but aura-reading doesn't really tell you anything about a pokémon, just if they're hostile or something. And all auras look different... don't they?_

Her eyes adjusted a bit more to the light, which seemed to be coming from spotlights on poles. There were several shorter shapes behind the odd mushroom-man and his goons. And one of them had a black aura around it. Just like that fighting type.

Rui shivered instinctively.

_So... is this a Shadow Pokémon? One with a black aura? But what do they do, and why are they a secret?_

"So, until Einie's guys come over and pick you up, you're a guest of the awesome Miror B., master of music. Boys, take that tape off her mouth. It's not good for her vocal cords."

"But boss! What if she screams?"

"Who will hear her, Trudly? No one other than us. And a two-sided conversation is so much more interesting."

One of the goons (the one in the hat, "Trudly," aparently) walked over to Rui, bent down and ripped the tape off. Not gently.

"Better?" asked the goon.

Rui leaned over to her side and threw up. Twice.

_No._

"So, little lady" asked Miror B. "What's your name?"

Rui gasped for a second and tried to get her nausea under control again.

"I'm waiting..." continued the Breloom man, with a hint of mock impatience.

"Go. To. Hell." she growled, as intimidating as she could while tied up, disoriented and trying not to vomit again. So, not especially intimidating.

"Well, well. It seems you aren't in a talkative mood, then. Aw, well. It's not especially important."

Someone else entered the room. It looked like... a woman? Red hair? Really? It was so hard to see anything with the spotlights that Rui figured she might just be hallucinating.

"Boss. Bluno's signaled us. He says your trap is in play."

"Oh, excellent. I guess I better get right on that. Thanks, Reathy."

'Reathy'?

"Okay. Folly, Trudley, would you two be so kind as to take our guest to the back room?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, whatever, boss."

"Good. Einie's people should be here for her soon. Until then, come on, my party pokémon! It's curtain time!"

The mushroom man vanished, as did the pokémon that had been standing behind him. Rui almost breathed a sigh of relief to be away from that black aura.

Almost.

The two male goons (Folly and Trudly, was it?) grabbed her by the shoulders and started to drag her across the rough stone floor. The new angle on the spotlights blinded her. Again. That was getting very annoying, somewhere up on the list with being stuffed in a sack, feeling like she was going to throw up (again), having tape over her mouth and just generally being kidnapped.

_Yeah, not one of my better days._

* * *

><p>They pulled her into another room, which was also carved out of rock. While the other one had been overly bright, this one was dark.<p>

"Alright, now _stay here_, okay?" said one of the goons. He and his partner cracked up, like that was the funniest thing they had ever said. In fact, knowing them, it probably was.

The two 'men' finished snickering and left. There was a loud click as the lights in the other room were turned off. She was alone. Great.

Rui lay on her back, trying to steady her breathing so she wouldn't throw up or pass out again. In a way, the darkness was a little relaxing, or at least better than blinding light. She tried to collect her thoughts again. Whoever this "Einie" person was, she didn't want to meet them. She was going to have to escape. Again.

_Well, at least I don't have a sack to worry about._

First, she'd need to untie her hands, which where still pinned behind her back. She pulled on the ropes, but it seemed that the knots were tied a little tighter this time. Well, she was in a room, which by the looks of it was full of junk.

_Might as well see what else is in here. Maybe something useful._

"Plu... plah?"

There was a soft call through the darkness. Rui squinted, her night vision slowly coming into focus. There was something in a small cage on the table next to her. It was... redish? With long ears. Definitely a pokémon. It had a pleasant, orange aura.

_It's one of those Hoenn... 'Plusle,' I think?_

"Plaah?"

The tiny pokémon poked the side of its cage. It then sat down again, dejected.

_It looks like it's a prisoner to_ thought Rui.

"Don't worry, little pokémon. I'll get us out of here. Somehow."

Rui sat up, carefully. She was right by a long table, which had all sorts of junk on it. She carefully scooted over towards the first thing she could find.

It was a square metal box with a latch on it. It was unlocked, and based on the goons she'd seen so far, that didn't seem too odd. Rui felt around inside it (carefully) and poked something sharp. Then she smiled. Maybe she was getting out of here after all.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry I haven't posted in a while, promising to do so soon is the perfect way to ensure that you won't.<em>

_The different pieces are starting to come together..._


	8. Grand Prize

**SOMEHOW NECESSARY DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon Colosseum. If I did, would I really be writing an AU fanfic of it on this website?**

Chapter 8: Grand Prize

The building look rather old to Wes. And a little run down.

By that he meant it looked like it was built last century, abandoned before he was born, invaded by hobos and then bought by someone on an extremely low budget. Who would be that cheap?

One "Miror B." it seemed.

The mysterious, masked guy in blue stopped and waited for the automatic door (which probably cost more than the entire building) to go all the way down behind them.

There was a large counter inside, and it at least seemed to have been dusted recently. The person behind it was a woman...

_I think. _

She (?) was wearing a deep purple jumpsuit, with a covering that looked similar to armor (like his friend from the bridge). Her mask was somewhat pointed, and actually looked rather catlike. Finally, there was long hair, unbraided down her back.

She also looked incredibly bored.

"Hey! Nore!" she nearly shouted to the masked guy from the bridge. "Is this our newest challenge winner? He's kind of cute. Certainly a good break from all those macho bodybuilders."

_I'm standing right here, you know..._

"Lare, this challenge winner, uh, Robby, has earned the 'special' package" said the guy from the bridge, 'Nore'.

_Seriously! Am I the only person in the entire region with an actual name!_

"Oh, right. The special package. Would you like to look over our Shadow Pokémon catalog?" said the girl, 'Lare'.

"Uh, sure" said Wes. He picked up the file folder off the countertop and looked over it. It just seemed to be a list of regular pokémon of many different types, several of which didn't even seem all that tough.

"I need to go. I'll be back in a second" said Nore. He walked back towards the automatic door and pushed the button to open it. Wes ignored him.

_I suppose now is the time for that certain question..._

"Say, what exactly are 'Shadow Pokémon', anyway?"

"Oh, well, you see" started Lare "we take a normal pokémon and then we power it up so it's stronger than it ever would naturally be."

_Huh? Power up? And why does she look so nervous all of a sudden?_

"And how do you do that?" asked Wes.

The automatic door finished tucking into the ceiling with a loud clang.

"It's quite simple, actually" said a rather high-pitched voice behind him.

Suddenly, large arms wrapped around Wes, pinning his hands to his sides and lifting him a good foot and a half into the air.

"What the! What is this!" Wes stammered. Not that he didn't already know the answer.

_Trap, trap, trap, it's a trap, it was an obvious trap and I still fell for it! Why am I losing my touch!_

Another man, dressed similarly to Nore but in green reached into his coat and pulled off his belt, where Espeon and Umbreon's pokéballs were still attached.

A mass of yellow, red and white (which Wes's brain eventually decided was I guy in a yellow jumpsuit with a giant pokéball on his head) walked out in front of Wes.

"This, my foolish little man, is show business!"

Wes stared at this new arrival for a second, while he tried to breath in the tight grip of the large bodybuilder holding him.

"It's also a kidnapping" said the yellow guy, after a second.

_Really. Fascinating. Please go on._

"Who are you, anyway?" demanded Wes, not really knowing if he wanted an answer.

"My name is Miror B." said the strange man. "I hope you won't mind being my guest for a while. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr... Robby, did you call yourself? Ah, well, 'Wes' is so much easier to say, so I'll stick with that."

Wes tried to kick the guy holding him in the shin, but it only caused him to tighten his grip.

"Careful now! Don't damage the Snag Machine!"

A new, gruff voice came from out of Wes's line of sight. It didn't matter. He knew it anyway.

_Crap._

The bodybuilder turned further to face the open door, which was occupied by Gonzap's large frame. Two smaller Snagem goons (What were their names again? Really they all looked about the same, and Wes could never really tell them apart) flanked their leader.

"Well. Wes. It's good to see you again."

Gonzap was not happy. Not happy at all.

_Oh come on! That building was a fire hazard anyway! And it's not like I left anything valuable in there before I blew it up..._

Gonzap turned to Miror B.

"I need him and the Snag Machine, and then we can continue our previous arrangement."

Another goon reached into the bodybuilder's arms and hit the Snag Machine's quick release button, removing it from Wes's arm.

"Well, actually, Mr. Gonzap, our brilliant leader is not certain that he needs your team anymore. He feels our own people can do a better job of snagging than you."

"WHAT!" roared Gonzap. "What. Is. THIS!"

"Don't worry, don't worry" said Miror B. "I'm sure we can renegotiate a deal. Please, step into my office. But you can have Wessy here. We have no need for him."

_Thanks, Miror._

"But until then" the extremely hair-and-name-and-fashion-challenged man continued, holding up Wes's pokéballs. "I might as well send these off to the lab. I'm sure they'll make excellent shadow pokémon."

Wes started struggling again.

"No! You aren't doing anything to them!"

Miror B. laughed.

"Wessy, my dear, you've really got to learn about when to make demands. Such as when you have some influence over the situation. So, Gonzy. What's it going to be? Leave now or have a chat with my bossman?"

Gonzap thought about this for a second.

"Very well. I'll talk with him. Wakim!"

"Sir!" shouted one of the Snagem goons way too loudly.

"Take Wes back to that warehouse and hold him until I get back. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. We'll keep him nice company."

Wes kept fighting, but the bodybuilder's grip was too strong.

"You, top-heavy guy. Go with them, won't you?" said Miror B.

"Right" nodded the bodybuilder.

"But first..." said Gonzap, reaching over and grabbing Wes's neck.

Wes fought harder, but he found his vision fading as Gonzap's palm pressed on the side of his neck in an inverted sleeper hold.

"Nighty night, Wes. Have pleasant dreams."

Wes thrashed one last time, and then everything faded to black.

* * *

><p><em>So, it doesn't look like thing are going good here. Can anyone save our heroes? Tune in next time to see...<em>

_Okay, I just can't do that. Sorry._

_But I will admit, I'm getting closer and closer to the end of what I have planned out. And I still don't have an ending. So if you have an idea for how this should end, or where the story should go, write it in a review or PM me. If I use your idea, I'll credit you, of course._


	9. Another Call

**DISCLAIMER**: Do I own Pokémon Colosseum? Do you? Didn't think so.

Chapter 9: Another Call

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Beep._

"Hello?"

"Grandpa Eagun?"

"Ah, Misty. It's good to hear you again. Say, do you know when Rui will be coming down? We were expecting her soon but she doesn't seem to have arrived yet. Was she delayed leaving?"

"Uh, Grandpa, that's what I called about. You say she isn't in Agate Village?"

"No. I may be old, but I still have eyes! So what came up?"

"Uh, Grandpa, Rui left Kanto three days ago. I saw her get on the ferry myself. Even with a full day to get over to Orre, she should be there by now."

"Perhaps she had a delay?"

"And she didn't call either of us? I think something bad might have happened to her."

"Nonsense! What could possibly happen? Orre is the safest region I know of!"

"But still, there are car accidents and wild pokémon attacks and stuff. Why don't you call the police and see if they know anything?"

"Oh, Misty. You always were the worrying type."

"Look. Grandpa. Just call the police, okay? Just to see if she popped up somewhere. Alright?"

"I will, Misty, but I think they might have their hands full with that kidnapping over in Phenac."

"What kidnapping?"

"Oh, it was all over the news today. Apparently some nasty villains kidnapped some girl over in Phenac City. They threw her in a sack and everything. There was this big fight or something, but I'll admit I don't know much else and it doesn't seem anyone else does either. I'll admit it didn't seem too important, but Beluh insists on watching it. Media drama."

"Grandpa. Call the police. Ask them about Rui. I'm heading over to Orre as soon as I can."

"Oh, Misty. Why are you coming over here? Don't you have a Gym to run?"

"I'll get Isabel to cover for me. Grandpa, I think Rui might be the girl who got kidnapped."

"Huh? But how would she have gotten to Phenac? That's on the other side of the region!"

"I don't know, but... I'm coming over there, okay?"

"Oh, sure, sure, Misty. Do try and find Rui and tell her to come over, alright? It would be lovely to see her again sometime."

"Uh, yes, Grandpa. Bye."

"Goodbye, dear."

_Beep._

* * *

><p><em>The plot thickens, yet again...<em>


	10. Plus or Minus

**DISCLAIMER:** Does anyone honestly come to this website looking for content made by the people who own the intellectual property in question?

Chapter 10: Plus or Minus

"Plah? Plaplah?" squeaked the Plusle in the cage.

Rui didn't reply. She was too busy trying to cut the ropes without removing her fingers, which was a bit harder than it might sound.

She twisted around the scissor-like wire cutters she'd found in the toolbox, trying to line them up with the bonds. Finally, she managed to do so, only to realize that she couldn't reach the handles from that position.

_This may be a little harder than I thought._

Footsteps. Far away, on stone. But getting closer. Fast.

Rui twisted her wrists again, finally getting the wire cutters into a position that could work. In a few more seconds, her hands were free. Again.

_This time, I am _not_ being recaptured_.

The footsteps grew louder as Rui ripped open the knots around her ankles. She quickly stood up and then nearly fell over, steadying herself on the table.

"You silly boy." A female voice echoed from the chamber beyond, where Mysterious Breloom Guy had been.

There was laughter. Rui started looking for a weapon.

"Did you honestly think you could take on Miror B. with such pathetic pokémon?" said another, similar, female voice, which was definitely getting closer.

Rui glanced at the Plusle in the cage, but it was sealed with a padlock, and there didn't seem to be any way to open it.

"You just wait! I'll run all of you out of town!"

A different voice. Male. Sounded kind of young. Probably not friends with the other two voices.

"Ahahaha! Of course you will!"

They were almost there. Quickly, Rui reached into the toolbox, grabbed a wrench, and she slipped across the room towards the door. She almost collapsed again.

_If this comes down to a fight that lasts more than three seconds, I am doomed._

Luckily, whoever she would have to fight would have to walk past her before they saw her, and she could take them from behind.

_And they probably don't know I've escaped yet._

The Plusle was standing up in its cage and staring at Rui, puzzled.

"Plah! Plaaah!"

Rui winced and really hoped that wouldn't give her away. Three people came into view, one, a young man with silver hair being dragged by the other two, both women, one red hair, one purple.

"Shut up, you little electric vermin" spat the purple-haired woman to the Plusle, which pouted indignantly, but seemed to realize that further protest would lead nowhere.

They still hadn't seen her. Rui started moving towards them, as quietly as she could, her wrench raised.

The red-haired woman turned to her captive.

"Hey little boy, Miror B. has a message he'd like to give to Duking. You'll deliver it, won't you?"

"I'll never do anything for you!" shouted the silver-haired guy, whose hands and feet were bound similar to how Rui's had been.

The two women laughed and dumped him on the floor in front of them.

"Here it is" said Red-hair.

She reached for a pokéball. Rui knew that one pokémon on the opposing side would mean defeat and recapture for her. She raised her wrench above Red-hair's head.

Purple-hair seemed to have noticed the cut rope under the table.

"Hey, Reath? Didn't Folly and Trudly leave that girl in here?"

Purple-hair whirled around as Rui answered her question with a wrench to Red-hair's head. She collapsed. The Plusle in the cage cheered.

"Reath!" shouted Purple-hair as she reached for her own pokéballs. Rui lunged and swung at her, but missed, the unwieldy wrench swinging to the side and throwing Rui even more off balance than she was.

"Not today, sweetie" said Purple-hair as she struck Rui in the jaw with a backhand strike, sending her tumbling to the floor and causing her to drop the wrench, which slid out of reach. Rui's head slammed into the hard floor for the third time that day (assuming it _was_ still the same day).

Purple-hair smiled.

"Kind of feisty, aren't you?"

Rui tried to get up and clear the spots from her eyes.

_Focus! Get it together!_

The most-definitely-not-her-natural-hair-color minion sighed.

"Unfortunately, you hurt Reath. I can't let you get away with that."

Purple-hair held up a pokéball and prepared to throw it.

"No!" cried the silver-haired boy on the ground. He lashed out with his still-bound feet, knocking Purple-hair's legs out from under her, causing her to pitch forward, dropping her pokéball.

Purple-hair landed on her stomach and immediately started to get to her knees.

Rui kicked her in the face as hard as she could.

"Ow!" screamed the minion, clutching her nose. Silver-hair lept at her as well as he could, with his arms and legs still tied together.

Rui started to try and get up again, but she was still too weak.

"Pla! Plaaplah!" cried the Plusle in the cage as it did what looked like a little dance with what space it had. Rui could swear it was glowing, and for a second, she thought she was too. She wrote it off as hallucination due to repeated concussions.

Suddenly, Rui found her strength returning. Unsure as to why, but not willing to waste the chance, Rui stumbled to her knees, then back to her feet. Unsteady, she grabbed the table for support.

Purple-hair threw Silver-hair off and stood up as well. But Rui used her new found strength to charge, slamming into her opponent with as much force as she could muster.

Purple-hair fell back in surprise, but recovered fast as she kicked Rui in the stomach.

Rui fell back to the ground, yet again. Purple-hair stumbled a bit, but caught herself by grabbing the bars of the cage.

The bars of a metal cage with a very irritated electric-type pokémon inside it.

"Plaa...suuuuule!"

Purple-hair wasn't even able to scream as electricity traveled through the bars to her hand to the rest of her body. For a second after it ended, she just stood there.

Then, she joined her friend Red-hair on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

><p><em>So, here's another chapter. I'm sorry it's been so long. I've been distracted and unproductive and so forth.<em>

_We're finally back to Rui's part of the adventure. And the first person who can say who this silver-haired guy is gets five dollars. Five Zimbabwean dollars, which have an exchange value of around 300,000,000,000 Z$ per US$, but still._

_I actually think I'll send in more chapters soon. I've got a 3-day weekend due to President's Day._

_Until next time!_


	11. Public Disturbance

**DISCLAIMER:** *_Insert assorted "I don't own this" message here_*

Chapter 11: Public Disturbance

Chief Sherles shook his head as he arrived at the scene. There was a crowd surrounding the area, balking. Sherles sighed. Civilians.

He ducked under the yellow crime scene tape McGregor had set up, nodding at the officer, who was now keeping the crowd back.

Detective Tabet met Sherles and led him inside. "What's the situation?" asked the Chief. The Pyrite Town Police Force was small, and Tabet was the only one with any formal training, from when he worked in Sinnoh, and so he took the lead on more serious cases. The detective waved Sherles inside, not wanting to be overheard by a gossip-prone crowd.

It was a sparse room, clearly meant for nothing more than storage. It also clearly had not been used in years, based on the rust.

Seven men, some balding, all wearing red vests, black pants and some sort of visor-like device around the back of their heads which almost certainly served no practical purpose were sitting on the floor, hands handcuffed behind their backs.

"We've identified four of them as members of Team Snagem, and the rest appear to be so as well" explained Tabet.

Team Snagem. They'd started as basic pokémon thieves, nothing special. But then they'd gotten bolder, using some sort of machine that could override the ownership locks on pokéballs. Where it had come from, Sherles had no idea. But it appeared fate had turned against them. Phenac City PD had reported that Snagem's HQ had exploded earlier that day, and now this.

Sherles stopped his reminiscence and asked the obvious question.

"What happened here?"

Tabet shrugged. "McGregor reported to a public disturbance call and found them unconscious. He called for backup and, upon identifying them as Snagems, restrained them."

Sherles rubbed his chin in thought. "Unconscious, huh? So someone else was here, and they don't like Team Snagem." Tabet nodded. "Do we have any witness reports?" asked the Chief.

"Even better" replied Tabet. "The grocery store on the corner has a security camera. It caught these guys plus one more coming in." Tabet held up his P*DA. "I've got the video here. Around 5 PM, eight people entered this building."

Sherles nodded. He could see the seven prisoners, surrounding a large, bald, muscular man, wearing what really could only be called half a shirt, with a full burlap sack over his shoulder. "Can we tell what's in that bag?" asked Sherles.

Tabet shook his head. "Sorry, sir. We found the bag's over there, but it's empty. We haven't seen anything that looks like it could have been in it at the scene, either."

Sherles closed his eyes in thought. "What else do we have?"

"Around ten minutes later, this guy leaves." Tabet fast-forwarded the video until the larger man left, empty-handed this time.

"Recognize him?" asked Tabet.

Sherles thought for a second.

"No, but he looks like a bodybuilder, and if he's ever been in any of the pro contests around here, there'll be a picture of him on record. I'll have someone look into that."

"Well, our muscular friend doesn't come back" Tabet continued as he fast-forwarded again. "but around ten minutes after that, we got a noise complaint. Right after that call, Mystery Man Number Two leaves." He paused the tape. Sherles could clearly see their prime suspect. He was young, not more than twenty, with white-blond hair and a horizontal strip across his face. A scar, perhaps? The long blue coat seemed distinctive too.

"How did he get here?"

"Dunno boss" shrugged Tabet. "None of the footage of the last few days shows him coming in, and I doubt he lived here."

Sherles rubbed his chin, as he often did while thinking. "Do we have any idea who this guy is?"

Tabet shook his head. "One of our Snagem friends here" he said, gesturing towards the prisoners "might know, but they don't seem willing to talk. I think they're scared of someone. I'll see what I can do."

Sherles nodded. "I'll get back to the station and get this picture out to the media. Someone has to know him. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Sir, no matter what happened here, this guy is definitely anti-Snagem. Are we searching for him as a suspect or a witness?"

The Chief thought for a second. "Person of interest."

Tabet nodded and went to prepare the Snagem goons for transport back to the station. They were going to have some full jail cells tonight.

Sherles shook his head as he passed under the crime scene tape again. What was going on here? There was only one obvious explanation, but it almost didn't seem possible.

_How could one kid take out seven Snagem goons at once?_

* * *

><p><em>Hey! I'm back. Stuff's happening. So forth.<em>

**IMPORTANT UPDATE NOTE: **_Upon re-reading an earlier chapter, I realized that I'd messed up on continuity here and have edited this chapter accordingly. I apologize for any confusion.__  
><em>


	12. Breaking Free

**DISCLAIMER:** I may or may not own Pokémon and secretly be the President of the United States. But probably not.

Chapter 12: Breaking Free

Rui groaned and started to rise, only to fall to her knees as the burst of strength that she guessed was the result of Plusle's Helping Hand move faded away. The walls around her were spinning and she had to blink several times before she could see again.

The two other women, Purple-hair and Red-hair, were still unconscious. That was a good sign.

The boy on the ground (he looked about 15 or so) was sitting up, though his hands and feet were still bound together.

"Nice job there, uh..."

"Rui. Rui Noel."

"Silva. Silva Tanning" replied the boy. "Say, could you untie me?"

Rui got to her feet, stumbled and gagged.

"Yeah" she gasped, still breathing heavy. "Give me a second."

In a minute or so, she had recovered enough to get the wire cutters and cut Silva free. He stood up, stretched and shook her hand. Rui almost fell over.

"Wow" he said. "You look... terrible, actually. What happened?"

Rui put her hand to her forehead to try and stop the spinning. She took a deep breath.

"Two guys kidnapped me, threw me in a sack, tossed it around a bit, slammed it into the ground a couple times. You?"

Silva got to his feet and stretched. "I'm investigating these guys for Duking. There's this guy named Miror B, and he's using the Colosseum to distribute these really weird pokémon."

"Shadow pokémon" said Rui. "That's what they called them."

Silva nodded. "They aren't normal, that's for sure. They're hard to control and sometimes attack people at random."

_Plaha! Plah! Sule!_

The Plusle jumped up and down, impatiently.

"Hey, Plusle, I'm glad I found you. Good job there" said Silva, gesturing towards Purple-hair.

Plusle puffed up its chest proudly.

"You know it?" asked Rui.

"It belongs to Duking. Miror B's goons took it hostage so he wouldn't stop them from using the town's colosseum."

"Uh... Duking?"

"You don't know him?" asked Silva, bending down and checking Red-hair's pockets.

"I'm not from around here" said Rui.

"Well, Duking's kind of in charge around here. He keeps the crooks in line pretty well, but he's really a softy."

Not finding what he was looking for, Silva moved over to Purple-hair and started digging into her pockets.

"Say, where _is_ here, anyway?" asked Rui.

"Pyrite Town. Man, you really are lost" said Silva. "Aha!" he exclaimed, removing a small metal key from Purple-hair's vest pocket.

"What's that?" asked Rui.

"Hopefully the key to a certain... yes!" exclaimed Silva as he inserted the key into the Plusle's cage and turned it. The door popped open and the small electric pokémon hopped out.

_Playa!_ it cheered, nodding its head in thanks.

"We should leave pretty soon" said Silva. "Miror B's goons have some tough pokémon, that's for sure. They wiped out my team easily." He grabbed two balls out of Purple-hairs pocket. "At least I've got them back now."

The two women on the ground started to stir.

"Here, hold these" said Silva, tossing Rui the two women's belts, pokéballs still attached.

"I'm not really good with pokemon" Rui mumbled. Well, she was good with caring for them, but not really battling.

"Yeah. We probably shouldn't use them anyways, might turn on us. Still, we don't want to leave them here with them, do we?"

Rui shrugged and tossed the belts over her shoulder.

"Are there many more guards?"

Silva nodded. "Yeah. We're pretty deep underground, and they've got most of the entrances covered."

They entered the next room, which was empty save for what seemed to be a stage.

"Hey!" said Silva, pointing to a grate in the wall. "Do you think we could pry this off?"

Rui tossed him her wrench. After a good minute of whacking, the screws dented enough to let Silva pull the cover away.

"Where does this go, anyways?" asked Rui, taking the wrench back.

"Don't know" replied Silva, sliding into the vent. "Probably ventilation, which should lead to the surface. At any rate, it's bound to be better than here."

"Playa!" cheered Plusle as it too entered.

Rui shrugged and followed them into the darkness. It's not like the day could get any worse anyways.

* * *

><p><em>Wow. I'm really sorry I left all you guys hanging for so long. First I had real life stuff, then I lost my motivation, then I forgot about this story, then I had more real life stuff and then I started working on another story, <em>Worst Case Scenario_._

_Thank Ultimate Black Ace for getting this back on track.  
><em>

_I'll try and split my time between this, WCS and some off site projects on Ace Attorney Online a little better.  
><em>

_Bye for now!  
><em>


	13. Yet Another Call

**TOTALLY VOLUNTARY DISCLAIMER**: I don't own Pokémon Colosseum. XD, yes, Colosseum, no.

Chapter 13: Yet Another Call

The room was dim as the screen flickered to life, displaying a man with long bluish hair standing on end. A second later, an image of a second man with shorter black hair in a lab coat appeared as well.

"Gentlemen" said Nascour "What is the situation?"

"Things are going just peachy over here, bossman" said Miror B, giving a little spin for good measure. "Shadow pokémon are leaking onto the streets, the police are clueless, our little hostage is making Duking keep his distance and that unfashionable rebel Wes has been captured and handed over to Gonzap, who's waiting to renegotiate his contract."

"And the girl, B?" asked the second man in an exasperated voice. Simply being _near_ the other admin gave him headaches, let alone actually _talking_ to him.

"We have her, Einie, safe and sound. Stop being such a worrywart."

"I am being a _worrywart_?" Ein growled. "It may have flown over your excessively large head, but the key to our plans is that no one can tell that shadow pokémon have undergone anything more than extreme breeding, training and conditioning. If this girl, this "aura-reader" can systematically identify them, then there is the possibility someone could target, counter or possibly even cure the condition. This would be unacceptable! I need that girl, B, to determine how bad could end up. Do. You. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, Einie. You'll get your little science project, first thing tomorrow. I'll send her over with Venus."

Ein muttered something to himself but nodded.

"Hopefully your results will be worth the fact that a scuffle in Phenac City involving two men and a sack is all over the news" said Nascour. "I suggest that you discipline them and then ensure that they stay out of sight until it dies down."

Miror nodded. It might be good to get Folly and Trudley out of his gorgeous hair for a while.

"And now for other matters" the Cipher boss continued. "Ein, how are the tests coming?"

"I am receiving... adequate data from the various trainers in Pyrrite Town" the scientist admitted grudgingly. "The Mark II process should be out of prototype and ready for mass production within weeks. However, I am running low on my current stockpile of Dark Shards..."

"Gorigon has already been dispatched to Almia to obtain more" said Nascour. "What about our... special projects?"

"I have succeeded, with minimal assistance, in converting the three Legendary Beasts" said Ein, clearly proud of it.

"Really, Einie?" teased Miror B. "That Lovrina chick seems to think that she did it all by herself."

"Do. Not. Discuss. Her." Ein growled. "That insufferable brat is quite bad enough on her own, thank you very much!"

Nascour allowed himself an eye roll at the theatrics while he was certain the two admins were looking at each other. No reason to show emotion to the staff, after all.

Ein cleared his throat. "Regardless, I have already given Dakim the shadow Entei and arranged for Venus to receive the Suicune with tomorrow's shipment. I'll need to keep the Raikou here at the lab to make sure that they remain... stable."

"Funny, Ein, how that leaves me high and dry" said B in a voice that said he didn't find it funny at all.

"I already gave you that Sudowoodo you demanded" replied the scientist. "What else to you want? A shadow Arceus? My house? Fashion sense?"

That did it.

"DO NOT INSULT THE FASHION GOD THAT IS MIROR B!" roared the man himself, several octaves higher than his voice probably should have been capable of and had they been in the same room, he probably would have tackled Ein.

"You're wearing a pokéball on your head!"

"RESPECT THE 'FRO, UNFASHIONABLE ONE! RESPECT IT!"

"When Stark Mountain freezes over!"

"Gentleman, please!" growled Nascour, who had half a mind to order both of their assassinations. Well, he'd probably still needed Ein for a while, so maybe just a limb or two.

Ein cleared his throat again. "In addition, Subject T-004 has survived a third exposure run of eighteen hours. I believe that it will be ready for usage within days."

"Good. Realgem Tower's grand opening is in two days. Will it be ready by then?"

Ein looked a little uncertain. "Hopefully. But the shear amount of dark radiation per treatment has been putting an enormous strain on it's body. I've been forced to give it cooldown periods of several hours to avoid killing it."

"Get it done, Ein" said Nascour. "And B, make sure that girl is transferred safely. We can't afford any more bad press or mistakes at this stage in the game. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Roger that, bossman!"

"Very well. Nascour out."

* * *

><p><em><em>Respect it!<br>__

_THIS IS NOT A DEAD FIC! IT IS MERELY BEING WRITTEN BY SOMEONE WITH OTHER PROJECTS WHO ACCIDENTALLY FORGOT IT EXISTED! TEMPORARILY! I REMEMBER NOW! I SWEAR!  
><em>

_Just thought you should know that.  
><em>

_Sorry this took **absolutely** forever. But during the break I took a little suggestion from Ultimate Black Ace and rolled this into a canon of another, much longer Pokémon story which I haven't written yet. I'll get to it. I swear._

_And as a result, I had all of these little hints and references to drop.  
><em>

___Also, Ein and Miror B do NOT like each other. Then again, can you really blame them?___


	14. Going Under

**NOT FORCED DISCLAIMER**: Dang. I was about to show you that I'd just gotten ownership of Pokémon, but it seems someone just stole the papers. I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, OH PAPER-STEALER!

Chapter 14: Going Under

Rui, Silva and the Plusle crawled through the vents as quietly as they could, which wasn't saying very much. They winced every time their shoes clanged on the metal floor, but no one outside the vent seemed to notice. After a while, Silva stopped suddenly. The Plusle bumped into him and fell on its backside while Rui, jerked to a standstill, banging her poor, unfortunate head on the top of the duct. At this point, she had actually managed to lose count of the number of times she'd hit it on something since arriving in Orre, and she was pretty sure that wasn't memory loss.

"What's wrong?" she whispered to Silva. "Why are we stopping?"

"Be quiet" he replied. "Listen."

Rui obliged as voices drifted down from a vent opening ahead.

"Are you sure, man? Miror B himself told us to set up here."

"Yeah. It's what Bluno said, and he's in charge until Miror gets back. We need to get as many men covering the exits as possible. Bluno's guys are already combing the place, but he wants to be sure that they stay inside. He said he has an idea of where to look, but we need to keep our eyes open. Whoever these two are, they already took out Ferma and Reath."

"They okay?" asked a new voice.

"Bluno thinks they'll live, but they're missing their pokéballs. That means prisoners might have shadow pokémon, so we need to make sure we have numbers on our side."

"Alrighty then" said the first voice. "You two! With me! We're going to the lower exit."

There was a clomping of boots on stone which slowly faded off into the distance.

"They know we've escaped" whispered Silva. The Plusle sighed sadly.

"What do we do?" asked Rui.

Silva sighed. "We've got to keep moving. Our only chance is to get out of here before they seal off the exits or find us."

"Right" said Rui. "Let's go."

A few minutes of additional crawling lead them to an intersection.

"Which way should we go?" whispered Silva. "Forward or left?"

"Well, if we keep going the way we've been going," replied Rui "that'll keep us from going in circles, so I say..."

A sudden screeching sound echoed from the vent in front of them. Definitely a pokémon, and definitely not happy.

"We go left" Rui said quickly. "Now."

Neither Silva nor Plusle were inclined to disagree with her, as they scrambled into the left passageway as fast as they could.

"Qui! Qui!" echoed the voice. It sounded angry, alright, and it was getting closer.

"Rui!" Silva said quietly, though to both their panicked minds, it felt like a shout. "There's another turn-off here. It goes down!"

"I'm okay with that!" replied Rui. She could hear footsteps in the vent now, and while they weren't heavy like a human's, they were coming. Fast.

"Here goes nothing" muttered Silva, turning around and sliding down the next part of the vent, feet first.

The Plusle moved to the side to let Rui past, ready to electrocute whatever was coming towards them. Rui dove for the opening, and a second later, Plusle followed as well.

You see, when Silva said "It goes down", he may have understated it a little. In reality, the new pathway sloped downwards at almost a sixty degree angle. Combined with the slick metal underneath, anything that started going down wasn't going to stop until it reached the bottom. Also, they had no light whatsoever.

Did I mention Rui went down head first?

After what was _probably_ only a few seconds of hurtling through pitch black darkness, Silva reached a more level part of the vents and began to slow down. Just in time, as it turned out, as his feet stopped him just short of a straight drop even further down.

Then, of course, Rui slammed into him and they both plummeted into the darkness.

A lot of falling, a fair amount of screaming and several additional heads banged on various metal surfaces later, Rui and Silva came to a stop. Plusle came hurtling out of the darkness, but fortunately, it merely bumped into Rui without doing much damage.

"You okay?" Silva asked.

Rui groaned and rubbed her back, which had landed on the belts full of pokéballs she'd thrown over her shoulder several times. _That's going to bruise. A lot._

"I'll be fine" she said. "Where are we?"

"I don't know" said Silva as they untangled their limbs. "But we've got to be really far underground."

A shaft of light poked its way into the vents a few yards ahead. Crawling forward, the two humans found another vent, giving them a view of a massive cavern.

"Are those... neon signs?" asked Silva. "What are those doing in the bottom of Miror B's hideout?"

"At this point, nothing would surprise me about him" muttered Rui. Plusle nodded in agreement.

Since there was no way to go but back, they spent the next minute forcing the vent cover out of the wall. They carefully climbed out and stopped simultaneously.

They were on a small stone cliff overlooking a large area of stone and rusted metal. At first, Rui thought that they were outside, only to realized that they were in fact inside a massive stone cavern that widened as it went up, like a canyon. Light trickled down from above, illuminating the area. Buildings covered surprisingly large streets, with what looked like makeshift bridges connecting rooftops. The neon signs of several shops twinkled in the distance, including a Pokémon Center, of all things. People milled around, talking or moving from place to place.

"Plah?" asked Plusle, tilting its head in confusion.

"This isn't a hideout" said Silva, continuing to stare ahead.

Rui nodded.

"It's a city."

* * *

><p><em>Okay, two things:<em>

_First off, I've been really bad to you guys by not updating this fic. It shouldn't go on for too much longer, but that's no excuse for not doing any work on it, even if I have other projects. Hopefully this will be done in the next three months or so. I apologize for the wait._

_Two, this is officially the one-year anniversary of this fic. Hooray!_

_As a Happy New Year's gift, I'm trying to update all of my stories at once, so I've gotta go.  
><em>

_See ya!  
><em>


	15. Back in the Game

**MODERATELY NECESSARY DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter 15: Back in the Game

Rosso frowned as his Quilava emerged from the ventilation shaft. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Did you lose their scent?"

The Quilava barked and made some movements with its head that Rosso couldn't quite interpret. He bent down to look into the vent, only for Quilava to bite at his arm. "Bad! Bad shadow pokémon!" Rosso shouted, kicking it in the flank. "You do not bite your master. Ever. Got it?" The fire-type grimaced and howled as if in pain. Rosso rolled his eyes at the theatrics (he hadn't kicked it _that_ hard, and shadow pokémon had high pain tolerance) but returned it to its ball. After all, with no one around but friendlies to attack, now was not the time for another shadow pokémon rampage. Though watching it chase around some of Miror B's idiot thugs would be hilarious…

Rosso turned at the sound of footsteps to see Bluno. "I love their power and all, but do you think the Mark II shadows would be a bit more… obedient?" Rosso asked.

"I hope so" Bluno replied. "My Crocnaw keeps trying to munch on the staff. Hasn't succeeded yet, but I'm tempted to let it loose on the two morons who let Miror's prisoners escape. Speaking of which, have you found said prisoners yet?"

"My Quilava tracked their scent into these vents but it lost it. They've probably made it out of the base by now."

Bluno sighed. "Take a team and start sweeping Pyrite for them. Apparently the boy works for Duking, so they may be headed towards his place. Be subtle if at all possible. Miror's guys have already managed to get all over the news. Be advised that they appear to have stolen some of our pokémon, including a shadow Remoraid and Mantine."

"Roger. We'll hit 'em hard and fast."

"Good" Bluno said. "I'll have Miror's men make another sweep just to make sure they're not hiding somewhere in the caves."

"You do that" said Rosso, walking off.

"You two" Bluno ordered two of Miror B.'s goons out of a group that was impatiently standing around. "Stay here and guard this area. The rest of you are with me. We're heading for the next level down."

The men (and women, Miror B. was an equal-opportunity employer) obeyed with varying degrees of enthusiasm. In less than a minute, the cave was quite again, save for the tapping foot of one of the two goons left behind.

"I'm bored" said Trudly. "I never thought this job would involve so much standing around."

"Yeah, me neither" said Folly. "But at least we still have our jobs. I don't think Miror'll be too nice to Reath and Ferma about losing our catch."

The faint sound of crashing metal, possibly mixed with some screaming, echoed up through the vents. The two looked around, but saw nothing.

"What was that?" Folly asked.

"I dunno" said Trudly. "Sounded kind of far off. Probably not our problem."

"Yeah. Say, I'm hungry. Wanna go get some grub?"

Trudly blinked. "We're supposed to be guarding this area" he said.

"Yeah, this area that doesn't have anything in it! Do you see anything that needs guarding around here?"

Trudly looked around. "No..." he admitted.

"So... you wanna get a bite or not?"

Trudly thought for a second. "Okay" he finally said. "It's not like we'll miss anything important."

* * *

><p>Lare was bored. Really bored.<p>

Like really, really, _really_ bored.

When she'd signed up to be an evil minion in an evil sinister organization designed to do evil sinister things, she really didn't think that would mean sitting behind a desk in an old, rusty building showing guys with biceps bigger than their skulls a pokémon catalogue.

Lare sighed and leaned back with her magazine. It was full of some boring news story about an attack on Battle Frontier Hoenn or something. As if anyone cared. Realgem Tower was going to be where it was at. Lare flipped a couple of pages over and reached the gossip session. There was a full-page spread of Marlon, that Unova Gym Leader who was allergic to wearing shirts. Lare sighed, a happier sigh now. She was still bored, but she was bored and staring at a buff, shirtless man, so...

"Excuse me" came a voice.

"Yes?" Lare asked, not looking up from Marlon's pecs.

"I have a customer service complaint" said the voice.

"No refunds!" Lare shouted, putting the magazine down. It was that white-haired boy from before. The cute one with the blue coat and the stripe over his nose.

"Oh, hi" she said, running a hand through her hair. "Uh, I mean, how can I help you?"

"I need to speak with your manager" Wes said.

"I can't let you do that, hon" said Lare. "But I've got time. What do you need to talk about?"

Wes put his hand on the counter and moved it towards her hair, like something out of one of those old romantic movies she watched sometimes. Lare blushed.

Then two things occurred to her.

One: She hadn't heard the automatic door open. This boy had gotten into this room in some way other than the main entrance.

Two: The last time she'd seen him, he was being hauled off by some of Miror B's guys. She had not heard any report that he had been released.

"Hey, wait a-" she said, her hand reaching towards the pokéball on her belt.

Wes grabbed the back of her head with one hand and slammed her forehead into the desk. Lare collapsed.

Wes vaulted over the desk before relieving Lare of her pokéballs. It was not nearly as satisfying as snagging them, of course, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

He lowered the unconscious woman to the ground, hiding her behind the desk and binding her hands and mouth. He started to move on, before stopping. On a hunch, he scooped up the shadow pokémon "catalogue" Lare had offered him earlier. All intel on the enemy was good intel.

_I'm coming for you, Umbreon and Espeon_ he thought. _And then, once you're safe, I'm coming for them. Gonzap, Miror B, all of them._

_I'll make them pay._

* * *

><p><em>I'm baaaack!<em>

_You may have noticed at the beginning that Rosso' Quilava went into Hyper/Reverse mode. Obviously without proper care, a shadow pokémon can rapidly become a danger to itself and others._

_Um, as to why haven't updated in ten and a half months..._

_I CONFESS TO NOTHIIIIIING!_


	16. Useful Information

POTENTIALLY REQUIRED DISCLAIMER: As previously mentioned, I totally own Pokémon.

Chapter 16: Useful Information

"Hey, have any of you guys seen Lare?" asked Nore.

"Nope" said one of the random bandana guys. "Not in a while" said a bodybuilder.

"Well, keep an eye out" said the Cipher Peon. "She was supposed to be manning the front desk."

"Probably went on break" muttered the bodybuilder, munching on a protein bar.

"Whatever" said Nore, walking down the hallway. "Let me know if you see her. I'm her squad leader, so if she goes missing it makes me look bad."

"Gee, none of us want that" said a hunter, rolling his eyes. One of the girls snickered.

"Real funny" said Nore. "Just be on the lookout for anything suspicious. If anyone tries to get through here who's not one of us, beat 'em up and call me. Got it?"

"Sure, sure, whatever" said a kid on roller skates. (Why did Miror be hire a kid on roller skates to help guard his HQ?)

"Amateurs" Nore muttered, walking down an empty hallway. "They couldn't stop a Butterfree."

"You've got that right" came a voice behind him. Nore whirled around, only to be sucker-punched in the gut.

"You really need to beef up your security" said Wes, grabbing Nore's arms and pinning the peon to a wall. True he had the pokémon he'd stolen before, but he couldn't risk them turning on him if let out of their pokéballs. "Now where are my Umbreon and Espeon?"

"Those two pokémon?" Nore muttered. "They've already been shipped out to the lab. If you ever see them again, you won't recognize them, and they won't recognize you."

"Where is this lab?" Wes demanded, pressing Nore's head against the wall. "What do they do there?"

"Doesn't matter" said Nore. "You'd never get in. Too much security. Way better than this crummy place. Hope you said goodbye to your pokémon before we took them."

A footstep echoed down the hall. Wes bashed Nore's head against the wall and tossed his unconscious body into an alcove.

Gonzap appeared, following another man in the same blue outfit as Nore.

"Up those stairs, first door on the right" the peon said, gesturing to a some stairs before turning around and leaving. Gonzap opened the door and entered.

_Gonzap? Here?_ Wes thought. His first instinct was to run, but he quashed that. If he was going to find that lab, he was going to have to know who he was dealing with.

Wes stood up and creeped over to the stairs. Light filtered in from above. After a second of quiet, Wes crept out onto the roof. The wind whipped around and moaned, while moonlight came down from above. Various lights on the ground illuminated different parts of Pyrite.

_Is it night already?_ he wondered.

He could see the door that the peon had been talking about. It was closed, but there was a window. Sneaking up to it, Wes was able to get a good view inside, while still concealing himself in shadow.

Gonzap was inside, talking with a television screen. On the screen was a rather strange looking man with red eyes and purplish hair that looked like a Cradily's tentacles.

"Please explain to me, Mr. Gonzap," the man was saying "why we should continue to utilize the services of Team Snagem, especially given that the primary multi-million pokédollar snag machine we provided you was destroyed by one. of. your. own. men?"

The man was not in a good mood. That much was clear. His displeasure was radiating through the screen, his purple hair whipping all around.

"Hey, now, Nascour" Gonzap growled. "There's still the portable snag machine, and Wes was a bad egg. Besides, he's been taken care of."

"Indeed he has" 'Nascour' said. "Which is why the Pyrite Town police force is currently investigating the warehouse where you took him."

"They're... what?" Gonzap roared, turning to storm out of the room.

"Don't rush" Nascour said. "Your men are already in police custody. It appears that Wes disabled all of them and escaped."

"I... they... he'll..." Gonzap seemed to have lost his ability to form coherent sentences. Wes allowed himself a little smile.

"So, Mr. Gonzap" Nascour said. "You have a single snag machine, you've lost half of your men and Wes is still on the loose. Perhaps you now see why I am reluctant to continue our association with Team Snagem?"

"I'll find him" Gonzap shouted. "I'll find him and pummel him into dust!"

"I do hope so, Mr. Gonzap. Or else Team Snagem will be without their main client and with the police breathing down your necks. And we wouldn't want that."

"No" Gonzap muttered. "No we don't." He turned and left the room as fast as he could while still trying to look like he wasn't rushing. Wes stood completely still, but he needn't have bothered. Gonzap wasn't paying attention.

Wes smiled a little more. Of course, this meant that Gonzap was going to pursue him even harder than he would have otherwise, but there was nothing like seeing the old man get humiliated.

Wes was about to move forwards to investigate the room when another set of footsteps rose up the stairs. Wes froze and retreated back into the darkness. After a second, a man in green-colored Nore-like armor appeared, entering the room.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" said the man.

"Yes, Verde" said Nascour. "Dakim is on a mission at Mt. Battle and Skrub is tying up some loose ends in Agate Village. I need you to run security on the Under Subway. With Wes on the loose, we cannot afford any disruptions to the transport of shadow pokémon. Understand?"

"Of course, sir" said Verde.

_Of course_ thought Wes, making mental notes of all of the things he was supposed to be kept away from.

"There is also the matter of the girl Miror B's men picked up. Ensure that she is delivered to Ein at once."

_Girl? What girl?_

"Um... sir?" said Verde, sounding nervous.

"Yes?" Nascour asked.

"It appears that Miror's men may have allowed her to escape, along with another prisoner. Rosso and Bluno are tracking her now."

Nascour slammed his hand down on his desk so hard that the camera shook. "Where was Miror B during all of this?"

"Um... At a, er, dance rehearsal, I believe. Local studio. He said it was important."

Nascour swore. "Ensure that the girl is re-secured as soon as possible. We CANNOT afford any more mistakes, not with Realgem Tower about to open."

_Realgem Tower?_ Wes wondered. _That big colosseum in the desert? What do these guys have to do with that?_

"As I said, Bluno and Rosso are dealing with it now. They should have the prisoners back in custody in no time."

"Tell them that they'd better" Nascour growled, his wavy hair getting wilder by the second. "It is now even more critical that Shadow Liner be able to operate without delays. When you get to the Under, tell Venus to have her troops do a full sweep of the town. The next train departs for the lab at 8:30 tomorrow morning, and I don't want any more surprises."

"Yes, sir" said Verde. He turned to leave, only to stop. "If I may ask, sir, are you really going to give Team Snagem another chance?"

Nascour thought for a second. "Probably not. Their incompetence is astounding, and we already have enough pokémon for the moment, especially combined with the spoils of a recent operation in Hoenn. We will need more, of course, but those may be more easily obtained in other regions. For the moment, however, Gonzap is still useful. As long as he is hunting Wes, I will consider him to be an asset. Afterwards, we may need to dispose of him. I'll give you further orders when the time comes."

"Yes sir" said Verde. The screen flickered and went blank as the peon left the room.

Wes waited a minute until everything was quiet before he emerged from his hiding place. That had been a lot of information about a lot of things. Back when he was a part of Snagem, he had thought that they were simply selling their snags on the black market to unscrupulous trainers. Clearly, their main client had been something much bigger.

The wavy-haired man on the screen had mentioned a train down in the Under was transporting shadow pokémon, whatever they were. And he mentioned a lab... that must be where Umbreon and Espeon had been taken. If that was the case, then it sounded like his next stop would be the Under. But first...

Wes walked over to the screen and checked the wires. Sure enough, it lead to a telephone router, which appeared to be connected to an antenna on the roof. Wes jammed his P*DA into the USB port on the back of the router. Normal P*DA's couldn't do this, of course, but what kind of thief keeps their electronics standard-model?

After a second or two, Wes had a list of videophone numbers, all of which had made a call to this location within the last week. None of the numbers looked familiar, but the area codes were all over the place. Wes recognized a few as local numbers-Pyrite, Phenac, Gateon Port-as well as a couple from other regions, like Johto and Almia. If he had a phone book he might be able to get some more information, but right now all he got was a general idea of the scale of this operation, unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

_Just who **are** these guys?_ he wondered, pocketing his P*DA.

It didn't matter, really. They still had Umbreon and Espeon, which meant that they still had to deal with him.

Their mistake.

* * *

><p><em>I should note that I have not had a single pokémon vs pokémon battle this entire story.<em>

_Wait.. that's not true. Castform Guy beat up Folly back in chapter 3. Never mind._

_Ultimate Black Ace: You never know who you'll run into in the fight against evil..._


	17. Time Out

**ALLEGEDLY REQUIRED DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Pokémon.

Chapter 17: Time Out

Rui and Silva stumbled into the Pokémon Center, the Plusle at their heels. They'd debated for a minute what to do, but figured that was the place where they were most likely to get help. Other than a couple of strange looks from locals, they'd gotten there without incident, which was a first.

Rui teetered again for the umpteenth time, leaning on Silva's shoulder to keep from falling to the ground. Her head was still spinning a bit (presumably from her repeated head injuries) and she really needed a place to lie down. Silva helped her to a chair in the lobby and then went to find a nurse.

"Plaah, plaah?" Plusle asked, poking Rui's arm.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" she muttered. It occurred to her that her family must be worried sick, and made a mental note to call them as soon as possible.

It took Silva a minute to find the nurse, and when he did she was grumbling about layoffs and budget cuts and idiot trainers who couldn't take care of themselves when the healing machine was _right there_... Rui was a little offended by that last bit, but figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to complain.

The nurse pulled out a penlight and shined it in Rui's eyes. Rui winced at the sudden burst of light.

"So how did you do this, exactly?" the nurse asked, examining the back of Rui's head.

"Well, I, er, fell down on the sidewalk." Technically true. Silva and Rui had agreed that they'd be careful talking about what had happened down here. You could never be sure which guys living in a city underneath an evil bad-guy base were also bad guys.

"Good job" the nurse commented sarcastically. "Let me guess: You're new around here."

"Uh, kinda..." Rui admitted.

"Look, the Under doesn't really have a lot of tourists. Pretty much everyone around here knows each other. It's not that hard to figure out."

"Fair enough" Silva conceded. "We've just arrived here today."

"Really? So what brings you to our fair city?"

"It's... uh... complicated" Silva said.

The nurse chuckled. "THIS ought to be good."

"Say, do you have a phone I can use?" Silva asked, changing the subject rapidly.

"Sure, it's over there" said the nurse, shrugging and pointing. Silva walked over, Plusle following. Rui tried to stand up, but the nurse put a hand on her shoulder.

"You, young lady, have a concussion. No driving, minimal screen time, plenty of bed rest and fluids and I'd seriously recommend stopping by a hospital and getting a brain scan, just to be safe. Or, in the very least, cleaning up a bit before you keep walking around looking like a zombie."

"Huh?" Rui asked.

The nurse pointed to a nearby mirror. Sure enough, the bottom half of the back of Rui's head was matted with dried blood, presumably from when she'd been slammed into the sidewalk back in Phenac.

"Having I been walking around like this all day?" she asked Silva as he returned from the phone with Plusle.

"Hey," he shrugged. "It's not like we've had a lot of time to chat. I thought you already knew."

The nurse chuckled. Rui glared at her.

"Anyways" Silva continued. "I called Duking and he's glad that we're alright and that Plusle is safe. It's too late tonight to try and meet up with him, so we'll need to spend the night down here."

"Let me guess" said the nurse. "You two don't have a place to stay."

Rui and Silva shook their heads, Plusle doing its best to imitate them.

"Well, it's not like there are a lot of trainers coming through the Under, so I've got two rooms available. I'll need a trainer card to charge it to, though."

Silva fished out his card and gave it to her.

"What do you think of this place?" he asked Rui as the nurse left the room to scan the card.

"It's kind of strange, having a whole city underground, but the Pokémon Center at least seems okay."

"I think we'll have to spend the night here" said Silva "but I say we leave as soon as we can tomorrow. We don't know who we can trust, or if Miror B's goons will try and track us down."

"Or what they're up to with this 'Shadow Pokémon' stuff" Rui pointed out. "I've never seen a black pokémon aura before. There's definitely something strange about them."

"Either way," Silva said "we need to get back to Duking and Chief Sherles. They can help."

"I hope" he added quietly.

The nurse returned with Silva's card and three pokéballs. "The healing machine's all done with your pokémon" she said, handing the balls to Silva. "And you" she said, turning to Rui. "Don't your pokémon need a rest, too?"

Rui glanced down at the belts of pokémon she'd, uh, 'borrowed' from Reath and Ferma.

"Uh... sure" she said. "Say, can you do a full diagnostic on these two?" Rui asked, picking the two balls with miniature black auras of their own. "They've been acting kind of weird. I'm wondering if it's parasites or something."

"Sure, sure, whatever" the nurse grumbled. "It's not like I have anything else I'd rather be doing."

Rui handed the nurse the pokémon. Plusle looked at her, but since they didn't have its pokéball, it was going to have to stay out on its own.

"Rooms are that way" the nurse pointed. Rui thanked her and walked up some stairs and down a hallway, Silva helping her when she stumbled.

"Do you need any help?" he asked as she reached the first room.

"I'll be fine" she said, giving a little smile. "Thanks, though."

"Hey, I should be the one thanking you!" Silva laughed. "After all, you saved me from those awful goons!"

"Point taken" said Rui.

"Either way, I'll be just across the hall if you need anything" said Silva. Rui smiled again and entered her room, Plusle following.

A quick but hot shower did a little bit of good for Rui's headache and got most of the blood out of her hair, even if it stung whenever the water touched the back of her head. Lacking a second pair of clothes, Rui put back on her old set, now acutely aware of how grimy they were. Nevertheless, she plopped down onto one of the beds, not even bothering to get under the sheets. Plusle ended up beside her.

_Man, Misty is never going to believe that all this happened on a boring visit to Grandma and Grandpa_ she thought, putting worries about Miror B and his minions aside. _Who says you have to be a trainer to have adventures?_

Of course normal trainer adventures didn't involve criminals kidnapping you, throwing you in a sack and taking you to their evil cave headquarters, but by the time Rui could have thought of that, she was already asleep.

* * *

><p><em>Well, once again, WAY too long between updates. Totally my fault. If it makes you feel any better, I also took an unintentional three-month hiatus off of my primary Young Justice fanfic for completely unrelated reasons. I'll see what I can do to get the next chapter out a little faster.<br>_

_(Several months later...)_

_Jay-Eyed Wolf: Eh, not every chapter can be super exciting. Sometimes I just need lots and lots of foreshadowing._

_The-Sun-Princess: This is true, though consistent updates are better than sporadic updates. And I agree that there should be more good Colosseum fics. It's a great game, after all, with one of the more unique plots (and awesome-looking player characters) in the franchise.  
><em>


	18. New Arrivals

**OPTIONALLY NECESSARY DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Pokémon.

Chapter 18: New Arrivals

Misty stretched as she got off of the ferry. It wasn't as fun as riding a pokémon from Kanto to Orre, but it WAS faster, and she figured that she really needed to find Rui before her aunt started getting worried.

"So this is Galateon Port" she said to herself. It was certainly a pleasant-looking town, with Wingull flying around, a cool-looking lighthouse and various fish pokémon swimming through the water. Off the shore, she could see a pod of Wailmer in the distance. Why did everyone say Orre was a terrible place to live again?

Misty adjusted her jacket and checked her pokéballs. She hadn't been sure what to expect, so she'd packed her main battle team, just in case. She just hoped that she wouldn't need to spend too much time out in the desert. Being a water-type specialist, she had no illusions about her pokémons' endurance in hot, dry conditions.

Elbowing her way past a crowd of sailors, Misty entered the Pokémon center and headed straight for the public phone. A quick call to Grandma Beluh told her that a policeman was taking her grandparents' statements, so that was one thing taken care of. Probably the thing to do now would be to sit back and let the police do their job. After all, it was entirely possible that Rui was simply lost, and the Phenac City kidnapping thing was just a coincidence.

Possible, maybe, but Misty had a pretty good feeling that it wasn't the case. If Rui was in danger, then every second spent sitting around increased the odds that she would be hurt or worse. Misty needed to look into things herself. Shouldn't be too hard. After all, if that Red kid could take down an entire crime syndicate as a side note to collecting 8 badges, surely a Gym Leader shouldn't have too much trouble solving one kidnapping.

To do that, though, she'd need to get to Phenac City. A nearby store was advertising scooter rentals, so that seemed like the place to start. Apparently that was how most people got around in this region. Go figure.

"Sorry, lass" said the owner, a gruff old man with a heavy accent and a weathered face that suggested that he'd been a sailor in his youth. "We're fresh out. Everythin' we got's reserved for the big premiere tomorrow."

"What premiere?" Misty asked.

"That new shiny resort thing... Redgan... Rellgin... Realgem! Realgem Tower!" The old man smiled, revealing several missing teeth. "Say they've got the most intense battles anyone's ever seen or something. I dunno, I'm never goin' to have 'nough cash to go there, so it don't really matter to me."

"Uh, thank you for you time" said Misty. "Is there another way to get to Phenac City?"

"You could try the bus" the man said, gesturing down the street.

Misty was about to do so when she stopped. "Incidentally, have you seen a girl who looks like this?" she asked, pulling out a picture of Rui she'd brought along.

The old man studied the photograph for a second. "Now that ya mention it, I did rent a scooter to a girl a few days ago. Even gave her one of my trusty GPS modules. Why do you ask?"

"I'm her cousin" said Misty. "I've been trying to find her."

"She in trouble?" the man asked.

"I hope not" said Misty.

"Well, her scooter's due back here in two days. If she shows up, do ya want me to call you?"

"Uh, yeah. That'll be great. Thanks."

"No probl'm, lassie" the man said, smiling again. Misty gave him her Pokégear number and left. It took her a few minutes to reach the bus stop, where she discovered that the last bus to Phenac City for the next six hours had left five minutes earlier.

Misty growled, stamped her foot and pouted. How was she supposed to find/save Rui if it was going to take all day to even start looking?

"Excuse me, young lady" came a voice from behind her.

"Yes?" asked Misty, turning around. Standing behind her was a short old man with wire-frame glasses and some sort of purple robe. He leaned forwards on a small walking stick, suggesting relative frailty. Two men stood flanking him, one with a red outfit and short matching hair and another with longer hair and blue clothing.

"If I overheard you correctly, you are traveling to Phenac City, are you not?" said the smaller man.

"T-that's right" said Misty. She didn't know why she was nervous all of a sudden. Maybe it was the fact that the two taller guys were both staring at her with cold expressions.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance" the man said. "My name is Augustus Verich. These are my bodyguards, Ardos and Eldes." The red-haired one, Eldes, gave a polite little nod to Misty. The other, Ardos, continued to look around, expressionless.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" said Misty, bowing. "My name is Misty."

"Misty... you wouldn't happen to be Misty Noel, the Gym Leader, would you?" asked Mr. Verich.

"That's right" said Misty. "But I'm sort of off-duty right now."

"Of course, of course!" said Verich, laughing. "Even Gym Leaders need some vacation every now and then!"

"Vacation, right" Misty said with a nervous giggle._ That's TOTALLY what I'm doing here_.

"Forgive me for interrupting" said Mr. Verich. "But I thought I recognized you. You see, I'm a huge fan of competitive pokémon battling, and so I strive to know all of the Gym Leaders, Elite Four members and Champions of the major conferences. As I recall, you are a Water-type specialist. An easy type to start, but a difficult one to master. You must be quite the trainer."

"I'm flattered" said Misty, rubbing her neck. "So, are you here on vacation as well?"

"I am in Orre on business" said Mr. Verich. "As it happens, I was going to Phenac City myself this very minute. You are welcome to join me."

"Uh... thank you" said Misty. "That's very kind of you." She looked back at the bus station signboard. She didn't want to impose, but six hours was a long time, and Rui's life could depend on it...

"Capital! Capital!" said Mr. Verich, excited. "The car is this way. Come along, everyone!" He turned and walked away, Eldes following closely behind.

As Misty started to follow, she noticed Ardos staring at her. His expressionless face morphed into a frown briefly before returning to neutral as he walked after his boss.

Misty frowned herself. Mr. Verich seemed nice enough and Eldes wasn't too bad, but Ardos gave her the creeps. _But I suppose it's a bodyguard's job to be suspicious of everyone and everything _she thought.

Anyways, the point was that she now had a way to Phenac City, where hopefully finding Rui wouldn't be too difficult.

Hopefully.

* * *

><p><em>STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!<em>

_(In fairness to Misty, parenting in the Pok__émon world sucks. Raise 'em 'til they're ten, then kick 'em out of the house for a few months.)_

_Hey guys. In celebration of the new year, as well as THREE WHOLE YEARS of... uh... not finishing this fanfic, here's a chapter. And let's see if I can't get you a little more to go with that sometime soon..._

_And by that I mean actually soon, not eight-and-a-half-months soon._

_I hope._


End file.
